Ariane Van Buren
Director of Investor Engagement - Ceres

Director of Investor Engagement Ceres

Ariane van Buren is director of investor engagement at Ceres, a coalition of investment funds, environmental organizations and public interest groups. She serves as Ceres’ liaison to institutional investors through the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a project of Ceres. She directs INCR’s work with the U.S. State Treasurers, Council of Institutional Investors, International Corporate Governance Network, and other investor organizations. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Social Investment Forum, the ICGN Committee on Non-Financial Disclosures, and the Editorial Board of Ethical Marketplace. Through the Ceres coalition, investors have worked together with environmental leaders to build effective campaigns on key sustainability and corporate governance issues. A few examples include: ∑ The Global Warming Shareholder Campaign, a collaboration of SIF, ICCR and Ceres that has resulted in significant changes within dozens of companies. ∑ The Electric Power Dialogue, which brings together corporations, investors and environmentalists to develop recommendations for addressing climate risk within the electric power generating sector. ∑ The Global Reporting Initiative, founded by Ceres and supported by the SIF community. The GRI is now the international standard for corporate disclosure of environmental and social impact, and an essential tool and indicator of good corporate governance on sustainability issues. Prior to Ceres, Ariane was the director of environmental and energy programs at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), where she coordinated shareholder actions on financial exposure to climate risk, Fortune-500 company commitments to public environmental accountability and disclosure according to the Ceres Principles, and safety and impact of genetically engineered food. She directed the Transnational Institute in the Netherlands, and previously in the UK, worked in energy research for multilateral and bilateral agencies in Europe and developing countries. Fluent in eight languages, she analyzed energy economies in Europe, Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal, China, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. She has served on advisory boards for Portfolio 21, Shareholder Action Network, Good Neighbor Project, and on the boards of directors of Ceres, Dos Pueblos in Nicaragua, and the European Association for Social Science Research in Central America. Her BA is from Yale University and PhD from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex (UK)..